# Port **** | Fonseca Vertical



## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Last night the five of us decided to throw an impromptu Fonseca Vertical. Covered were all vintages from 1970-1983. The line-up consisted of: 1970, 1975, 1977, 1980, and 1983. '75 and '80 are both difficult vintages to find. 1977 got 100 points in Wine Spectator, and 1970 got like 97 or something.

To me, 1970 and 1966 are the two best drinking post war vintages... Well, I should include 1955 and 1948, but those are quite costly at this point.


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## tzaddi (Feb 24, 2007)

Sounds like a good time… too bad you couldn't afford something a bit fresher. 

You are in a league of your own. I have a bottle of Quinta do Passadouro 1994 that I need to open soon, just need one or two more people to share the joy.

Someone has probably asked you before but are you using a sword (le sabrage) to open the bottles?


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## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

That sounds great, too bad I couldn't have made it 'the six of us'.



tzaddi said:


> I have a bottle of Quinta do Passadouro 1994 that I need to open soon, just need one or two more people to share the joy.


I can drink for two, is that close enough?


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## volfan (Jul 15, 2006)

tzaddi said:


> Sounds like a good time&#8230; too bad you couldn't afford something a bit fresher.
> 
> You are in a league of your own. I have a bottle of Quinta do Passadouro 1994 that I need to open soon, just need one or two more people to share the joy.
> 
> Someone has probably asked you before but are you using a sword (le sabrage) to open the bottles?


He is using port tongs. They heat them up with a torch and use them to temper the glass so a wet towel will force the bottle to break.

scottie


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## tzaddi (Feb 24, 2007)

Mark C said:


> That sounds great, too bad I couldn't have made it 'the six of us'.
> 
> I can drink for two, is that close enough?


When can you make it by? I do need at least one more palette to magnify the experience.



volfan said:


> He is using port tongs. They heat them up with a torch and use them to temper the glass so a wet towel will force the bottle to break.
> 
> scottie


That is fascinating, thank you for the explanation. That is the reason I come to this place, to learn, to share, have fun and enjoy.


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## Ivory Tower (Nov 18, 2005)

Do you filter the pour, when using tongs, just in case there's glass?

Are sabres used on anything but champagne?


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Ivory Tower said:


> Do you filter the pour, when using tongs, just in case there's glass?
> 
> Are sabres used on anything but champagne?


Yes, I filter through double folded cheesecloth into decanters.

I've been told that wine bottles can be sabrage, but have never tried it. I have sabrage 100's of Champagne bottles but do not feel so confident doing wine or port like that. There's not enough room to build velocity on wine bottle shapes except for Syrah and German wines. I use the back side of an 8" Chef's Knife. I'll get around to buying the real Champagne Sabre some day.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Oh, I forgot the cigar part of the evening. We usually get our testing notes on all the port before moving on the casual drinking part of the evening which includes cigars. It is important to write your notes on a clean pallet.

We all had Monte A's from two different boxes. One box was from 01 and another from 03; both smoked perfect. One of the 03's wrapper start to come un-done half way down, but not to detriment of the cigar. Two of the guys have a JL No. 2's, but I was content on completing the A instead.

Other booze on hand was Barbeito Sercial & Malmsey from RWC Historic Series which we all highly recommend and huge value, as well as bottle of Champagne.


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## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

Is there any point to opening a bottle like that other than 'it looks cool'?


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## volfan (Jul 15, 2006)

Mark C said:


> Is there any point to opening a bottle like that other than 'it looks cool'?


Yes, on vintage port when there is a lot of sediment, the cork can actually taint the port if it crumbles. The tongs remove the cork from the equation.

scottie

btw, I learned this from reading the threads that Moses starts in this forum.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Mark C said:


> Is there any point to opening a bottle like that other than 'it looks cool'?


Besides imparting flavor to the wine, if the cork gets destroyed by trying to pull it out with a cork screw, it is impossible to determine the brand and vintage printed on the cork. By using the tongs, the cork remains perfect. We'll shatter the neck around the cork and make sure it is what we were expecting. In the old days, there no labels on the port bottles; they painted on if anything.


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## Mark C (Sep 19, 2007)

Ok, that makes sense. Vintage wine is different because the cork stays moist since the bottle is stored horizontally, while port stands upright? How recently did they start printing labels? 

What about using a sabre on champagne? You don't need a corkscrew for those bottles so crumbly/destroyed corks shouldn't be a problem here.


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## gvarsity (Dec 12, 2006)

Wow! That is just :dr :dr :dr did I say Wow! Thanks for sharing. I love port but those are all beyond my experience. I did have a nice 30year old scotch last night.


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## GWN (Jun 2, 2007)

I almost pulled the trigger on a bottle of 1980 Fonseca port last week, but the label looked more like the modern vintages. Looking at your pic, I now wonder if it was the real deal.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Mark C said:


> Ok, that makes sense. Vintage wine is different because the cork stays moist since the bottle is stored horizontally, while port stands upright? How recently did they start printing labels?
> 
> What about using a sabre on champagne? You don't need a corkscrew for those bottles so crumbly/destroyed corks shouldn't be a problem here.


*The Sabre is strictly for show* and if not done right will explode in your hand; take it from me :hn. I lost one bottle with doing over 100+ with a sabre.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

GWN said:


> I almost pulled the trigger on a bottle of 1980 Fonseca port last week, but the label looked more like the modern vintages. Looking at your pic, I now wonder if it was the real deal.


The labels can vary. As long as it says Fonseca Vintage Port; you're all set. Some bottles can have Guimaraens style label but that is OK. In off years, Fonseca may release a Single Quinta port, but that names escapes me at the moment. Even that is pretty good too. I would not overlook the 1980. I would not pay over $80 for it, FYI.


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